Apple's slimmer 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros in production - report

The 13- and 15-inch varieties of Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, which will drop the optical disc drive for a thinner profile, are said to now be in production.

From AppleInsider:

Initial monthly shipments of the notebooks will be between 100,000 and 150,000, sources at Apple's overseas supply chain partners told DigiTimes. Though the new MacBook Pros will ditch the optical drive, the updated notebooks will feature "more advanced specs" than the MacBook Air, suggesting that the 13- and 15-inch Pro models will continue to exist alongside the Air.

The new MacBook Pros are said to feature stronger CPU performance and larger storage capacity than their MacBook Air counterparts. Shipments of the new notebooks to Apple will begin this month, the report said.